Abstract

Re-examination of Dithyridium cynocephali Ransom 1905, a metacestode parasite from the thylacine Thylacinuscynocephalus, has revealed it to be morphologically indistinguishable from metacestodes of the tapeworm Anoplotaeniadasyuri found in the eastern quoll Dasyurus viverrinus and the spotted-tailed quoll D. maculatus, in Bennett's wallabyMacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus and in the Tasmanian pademelon Thylogale billardierii. The Tasmanian devilSarcophilus harrisii is the predominant definitive host for A. dasyuri, but the two quoll species can also serve asdefinitive hosts. It is considered likely that quolls may act as intermediate hosts through the occasional consumptionof Tasmanian devil faeces containing infective A. dasyuri eggs. The thylacine may have become infected withA. dasyuri in a similar manner, by engaging in coprophagy in the wild or in captivity.